A Song of Tragedy
by Tobias Flies Free
Summary: Ten drabbles based on songs, written in the time it takes the songs to play. Inspired by Ember Nickel's fic Music Drabbles.


_10 Music Drabbles  
><em>_1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.  
><em>_2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.  
><em>_3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterward!  
><em>_4. Do ten of these, then post them._

**1. Shonen Knife - Cycling is Fun**

"Rachel, this is a terrible idea."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Come on, Tobias, it isn't that hard."

When Rachel discovered that I'd never learned how to ride a bike, she was horrified. "You're missing out on one of the great American experiences!" she'd exclaimed. Rachel could be prone to melodramatics sometimes.

But once the idea had taken hold of her, it wouldn't let go. So here I was, sitting on a bike at the top of a hill. "Learning to ride a bike on a _hill_? This is going to end badly."

"Come on, Tobias, where's your sense of adventure?" She put a hand comfortingly on my back. "Besides, it's not like you can't morph your injuries away."

"Wait, what do you mean by—"

She shoved me suddenly, and I went down the hill with a scream.

**2. Shawn Lee - Bully Main Theme**

‹Huh,› Tobias said. ‹I think that's Andy.›

‹Who?› Rachel said distractedly. She had just caught a thermal and jumped up about a hundred yards.

‹One of the kids who used to shove my head in the toilet.›

‹_Oh_.› She banked.

‹Rachel, _don't—_› But she was already diving at his scalp.

**3. Louis Armstrong - We Have All the Time in the World**

Most days, their relationship seemed like it should be impossible. A girl torn apart by her bloodlust and a boy who couldn't decide between humanity and birdhood, engaged in a desperate war against alien slugs. How on earth was that a recipe for a successful romance?

But on days like this, with no missions to worry about, laying in the grass of Tobias's meadow, hands clasped together, the entire world disappeared. There was only their love. Nothing more, nothing less.

**4. Amanda Palmer - Ampersand**

"Hey, babe."

_Ugh. Greg._ Rachel kept walking, but he fell into step alongside her.

"You know, you and I would make a good pair." He grinned that creepy stalker grin of his. "Remember that one date we went on? That was nice."

"Greg, we sat at the same lunch table once," Rachel snapped. "And you were such a creep to me I never sat there again."

Greg waved his hand. "Details. Anyway, I'm going skydiving next weekend — courtesy of The Sharing, which I just joined — and I've got an extra ticket. You don't act like it, but I bet underneath that sexy, sexy exterior you're a real adrenaline junkie."

Rachel forced herself to keep walking casually as her blood froze. _Does he know?_

"And, you know, if anything goes wrong, our names would look great on a headstone together." He grinned his creepy stalker grin again.

Trying to unlock her front door, Rachel dropped her keys, but quickly recovered and got into the house. "Get the _hell_ away from me, you goddamn creep." She slammed the door in his face.

**5. Moxy Fr****üvous - Pisco Bandito**

"Do you know what I caught David doing once?"

Tobias wondered what had brought this on — Rachel usually hated discussing David — but he figured it was best not to ask. ‹What?›

"I think he actually did this more than once, but... He morphed a fish, and he'd hang out near a beach. If someone forgot to take some money out of their pockets before going in the water, he'd swim up and steal it."

‹He'd steal the money _straight out of their pockets_?›

"Yeah. I don't even know. Called himself the Bandit Fish. David was a weird one."

**6. Eisbrecher - Adrenalin**

Infinite power.

That's how I felt in the middle of battle. I could take down anyone and anything that dared to stand against me. Adrenaline pumping through my system, I would destroy Hork-Bajir or Taxxon or Andalite or Gedd or _anything_ that dared think it could take me on. Deep within me, the power surged, just waiting to be unleashed on the next foolish Yeerk that came my way.

I was dynamite, ready to explode at any time. And outside of the rage of battle and my bloodlust, I was always afraid of myself.

**7. Men Without Hats - Safety Dance**

"Come on, Tobias, dance!"

Tobias remained rooted where he stood. "I can't dance. I'd look like an imbecile."

Grabbing his hands, Rachel pulled him onto the dance floor and started dancing _with_ him. Well, at this point, Tobias supposed, he didn't really have much of a choice. He started doing a dance he'd learned from MTV Classic.

"Tobias, is that the Safety Dance?"

"...Maybe."

**8. Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive**

Tobias always felt slightly jealous of some of the guys strutting down the street in front of his house. He'd stare out the window, holding an icepack over his eye, while they would have a scantily-clad woman on each arm, grinning a fifty-carat grin, looking for all the world like they had everything they'd ever wanted.

A sharp contrast to Tobias himself, whose life was going nowhere. He was beat up daily. His uncle didn't give a damn about him, most people ignored him, and Jake... well, Jake tolerated him, but Tobias didn't think the other boy really _liked_ him that much. It was nice of him to let Tobias to hang around, though.

And Jake's cousin, Rachel. She probably didn't even know he was alive. Beautiful, witty, and completely above his level; he pined after her anyway.

**9. Avett Brothers - Tin Man**

At the end, Rachel envied Tobias and the others sometimes. She used to feel remorse when she had to kill. She used to be happy when she wasn't in the middle of battle; she used to get upset at Tobias's dark moods. Nowadays, her life in the Hork-Bajir valley passed in a numb blur. The only emotions left were tied into her bloodlust - the thrill of battle, the satisfaction of a job well-done, frustration when she lost more blood than her enemies.

Rachel missed having proper emotions.

**10. Muse - Soldier's Poem**

"Rachel," Tobias murmured into her shoulder. "Should we really—?"

She kissed the nape of his neck. "Yes, Tobias. We deserve freedom. We need to appreciate what we've got."

In this moment, the moment of ultimate intimacy, Rachel knew that she wouldn't survive the mission tomorrow.

There was no justice in the world.

* * *

><p>I was inspired to do this by Ember Nickel's collection "Music Drabbles." Go check it out, because it's awesome (like all of Ember Nickel's stuff).<p> 


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